In a hidden room, perfectly square, fully padded, with no visible furniture, decorated only with comfortable purple cushions attached to the ceiling, a Black Elf, partially naked, with mature beauty, lay lightly on the pillows, being stimulatingly massaged by bridesmaids.
One of the walls creaked and rotated 360°, allowing a silhouette to enter before returning to its original position. The elderly man who entered, seemingly shameless, knelt before his Queen.
"You may rise, Hai. What brings you here?" The sovereign asked, slightly displeased by the untimely visit of her minister.
"Queen, this servant has worrisome news to relay." Spoke the cautious elderly man. Black Elves had long lives, even at low cultivation levels. This elder was one of the oldest beings living in Sombreal, Hai the Sage, the minister of foreign affairs of the Eternal Night.
"Just speak up, can't you see that I am in my leisure time?"
' How many times have I warned not to disturb me during these moments?' Ruling is a burdensome task. Even she, at times, needed a few hours of revitalization. Her own unorthodox cultivation required her to go through "discomforts" of pleasure, rest, and leisure.
The Sage sighed, still unsure how to inform that charming lady of the tragedies that had befallen the Kingdom in the past few hours.
"The espionage department sent a report..." He began narrating the recent events, from the decision and act of capturing the Grand Master of matrices to the clash at the Gnel embassy. When he finished recounting the casualties, the Queen was already seated with the upper part of her torso exposed, completely indifferent to shame.
"Are you telling me that a small, newly formed organization, with a few Gnomes and a single elite combatant, forced 30 of our warriors, including one from the Fantasy Realm and another from the Celestial Realm, into misery and even captured the Gnel embassy?" The pressure emanating from the Bloodthirsty Queen grew stronger and stronger, much to the dismay of the low-cultivation attendants. They quickly, discreetly prostrated themselves behind the Sage, who belonged to a Peak of the Fantasy Realm.
"But..." Without letting the elder finish speaking, she continued.
"They killed 29 and forced Zero to marry their leader, who hasn't even complete the Consolidated Realm..." The Elf's eyes were already bloodshot. Who could not fear that tyrant in such a state? Even the minister wavered and broke into a cold sweat, while the poor attendants had fainted by this point.
"Madam, it's not over yet." Hai said, feeling an absurdly intense murderous intent looming over his head. But what could he do? Omitting the information would only delay and amplify the reaction. When he thought it would be safe, he continued.
"The leader of the Haller Clan, Patriarch Ian, demanded that the Grand Master be delivered to him under the threat of executing all the hostages, including the ambassador, and disclosing all the documents in the office to anyone who wants to know. Including the hidden ones he somehow managed to get his hands on. "
RAASSC!
The cushions tore in unison, and the plaster of the structure began to crack. Minister Hai was shocked. Although the Queen cultivated the Dao of Demonic Sensuality, not specialized in combat, she was, after all, the only Spatial Realm in the entire Eternal Night.
"My lady, you need to remain calm. I'm sure we can reverse this..."
"Reverse? That useless Zero, whom I guided and nurtured with so much love, whom I rescued from the outskirts... What does she give me in return? FAILURE AND SHAME!" The queen roared at the top of her lungs. The elderly man quickly grabbed the motionless employees and threw them out of the room after activating the secret lock. He wanted to follow them himself, but if he did, the situation would worsen significantly. Temperament was not one of the virtues of that sensual monarch.
"You know, Lady, a Grand Master is of the utmost importance for the nation..."
"Stop stating the obvious! If you were not a precious Fantasy Realm, your life would have already been used to feed my battle beast! Zero didn't make a mistake in capturing the old man, but rather in not investigating his connections. According to the report, within a few minutes, without any chance of reaction, the 30 were massacred. These weapons didn't come from the heavens, but from that company. Every assassin needs to investigate the target, map out all the circumstances, and think of a way to be fatal. That's the true way to act, what is expected of someone in this profession. The Numbered are a decisive SHADOW of Eternal Night, but she revealed herself in the light, acted openly and arrogantly, and that's why she was defeated."
As she listened to her own words, the Queen also began to calm down, and soon, like nothing of the previous show had occurred, she recomposed herself and the usual air of sensuality and malice returned. As a monarch, she couldn't commit the same sins as Zero.
Internally, Minister Hai thanked the heavens while being surprised by his leader's change of attitude.
"Did Mr. Haller present any contract?"
"Yes, my queen." The minister replied with rectitude, handing over the document.
A spark of hope could be seen in the eyes of the astute monarch. But as quickly as it appeared, it vanished. The aura contract was crafted by a professional, no, a genius! She, who considered herself the pinnacle of trickery and cunning, found herself not only failing to find loopholes but also gaining insights as she read the clauses, anticipating situations she had never thought of before. Thus, she became dejected, and her expression fell into momentary depression.
The Sage, seeing that, couldn't help but feel his heart tightening. Regardless of how malicious that woman could be, her Dao made everyone want to protect and serve her in the best way possible.
"Queen, we can still mobilize a strong force and launch a lightning-fast attack. They wouldn't even know what hit them. The Kingdom of Gnel cannot blame us since our embassy was attacked."
"Do you really think they are unprepared for that? They must already have copies of the records in various locations, with different people under the command of aura contracts, waiting for the situation to unfold. If we make the move you want, we will be ruined. Did you forget the contents of those documents? They commit us to various races! The loss of face we just experienced will have to be endured... Moreover, at least in terms of high-level warriors, the scales tipped a bit more toward the Glory of Darkness. We lost one from the Fantasy Realm, and if I were to fight, I would miserably lose to the Darkness Guardian." The queen sighed, shaking her head, defeated, as she signed the aura contract.
-------------------------------------------
In another part of Sombreal, a "human" with a beautiful and wild appearance, emanating even a hint of killing intent recently acquired, was talking to a young, cute, and somewhat nerdy Gnome.
"Sir, I think we should rethink our actions. We have gone too far, and the Bloodthirsty Queen will ignore all consequences and take our pitiful lives." Shortyty nervously spoke. He had never before had any threat on his existence.
"Relax, Shortyty. Based on this monarch's history, although she doesn't care about the means to achieve her goals, she is by no means a real bloodthirsty maniac. If the queen were, how could her nation have risen to the top in the few years she has been ruling?" The Gnome nodded, but his legs still trembled, showing that he didn't maintain 100% confidence.
"At the moment I have zero concerns for the Eternal Night, they will sign your brilliant aura contract even if it is against their will. The real threat will come not from them, but from all the other nations and organizations that are watching from afar everything that is happening."
A bolt seemed to have struck Shortyty; his expression became more urgent and focused.
"Do you think they might want to deal with us to eliminate future problems?"
"There is this possibility. That's why we need to reschedule the missed meetings as soon as possible and sell as many explosives as we can. At least while we are producing the orders, we will have a little protection. After all, no one would be crazy to pay a large sum of money to produce golden eggs but end up killing the chicken before it has finished laying. Even if we deliver some batches, those who haven't received them will block the others." Shortyty nodded in agreement, but when he remembered the scenes from the embassy battle, his face lost a little color and he realized that others in the future will have such power in their hands. One day the roles might be reversed.
"But sir, wouldn't we be sharpening the sword for the executioner to use against our necks?"
"Hahaha, astute but simplistic, Shortyty. Do you really think I'm going to hand it over like that? Besides the matrice to keep the industrial secret, we will have some hidden gifts to ensure that all weapons are tracked by us and can be detonated or rendered useless at our will."
"But they will find out..."
"Before, we couldn't, but now, with the encryption matrice, attaching little surprises without being discovered has become easy."
Shortyty looked once more at Ian. His boss was constantly creating fearful weapons, manipulating or lying, becoming more and more unreadable and cruel.
"Don't look at me like that. If I were as naive as you, I would have died a long time ago."
Shortyty, who after some thought, had to admit that life was not being very smooth for his master. Perhaps, this really was one of the best approaches to follow, even so, as a Gnome who was raised in an office, under protection and in a world close to ideal, he still had difficulty accepting and assimilating those things.
Sighing Shortyty spoke up: "Sir, excuse my lack of malice, I really understand little of these matters."
Ian nodded. He understood the little gnome, but needed to forge him. After all, considered him to be his right-hand man, and wanted Shortyty within the clan in the future.
"Sir, I will arrange the commercial meetings as soon as possible!" Shortyty spoke with conviction. He may not understand much about machinations and geopolitics, but when it came to commercial spheres, he felt at home.
Ian nodded to dismiss the Gnome. After that, he set about studying some scribbles that he pulled out from his robe. Only he knew how many compartments and what was inside his vestments.
"The prototype rifle was a success, but its power left something to be desired..." Ian kept mumbling and scratching over the sheets for hours. He didn't even remember to sleep, almost on a point of illumination.
After a good while, three knocks on the door were emitted, but no answer by Ian, who, lost in thought, ignored his surroundings.
"Ian, the envoy from the Eternal Night is here!" She shouted, only to be ignored again, leaving the caller, who was already impatient, pissed off. She kicked at the opening, causing it to fly away, almost hitting Ian, who jumped in panic. The figure that rushed in was none other than... Etri.